1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an upper body garment, and in particular, to one which can relax the muscles of the garment wearer.
2. Description of Related Art
Back problems result in millions of working days lost every year and cause untold misery to around sixty percent (60%) of all people at some time in their lives. For many people, back pain is caused by poor posture while walking or standing, working at desks, or sitting in front of the television. Other causes of back pain are old or inadequate beds or mattresses, and strenuous jobs which cause tension in the back.
Living with crippling back pain is often a vicious circle. That is, when a person is having back pain, that person automatically tenses his or her muscles, which reinforces bad posture and muscle spasms, and in turn causes even more pain. Doctors, physiotherapists, osteopaths, and chiropractors have been attempting for decades to solve the problem of back pain.
One proven invention uses two known methods to relieve back pain. The first method is massage, the second is stretching. U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,102, owned by the inventor of the present application, which is hereby incorporated by reference, discloses a back rest device having a supporting surface presenting two elongate continuous or discontinuous protuberances which extend along side one another and are arranged to engage the back of a person. In use, a person rests against the supporting surface which has a channel between the protuberances to accommodate the bony part of the spine with substantially no pressure on the bony part of the spine. The surfaces 12 of the knobbles 9 disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,102 are positioned to give the user the equivalent of a deep "shiatsu" massage. That is, they are designed to loosen the soft tissue of the muscles in the back and restore normal muscle tone. In addition to providing massage, the back stretcher disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,102 is shaped such that a person can effortlessly lie across it and allow their spine to open out gradually. In this manner the disks that have probably been pressed against each other all day are freed, thereby removing pressure from any damaged joints and promoting stimulus in order for the body to stay strong and healthy. Thus, stretching the back is accomplished by the two rows of knobbles slowly decompressing the intervertebral joints with the aid of gravity for general traction.
It is also known to install massaging devices inside garments. U.S. Pat. No. 5,381,558 discloses a device for massaging a body part, e.g., the back, which comprises a plurality of protuberances of various shapes that are attached securely to the inside of a garment. Theoretically, when a person wearing the massage garment disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,381,558 sits on a chair, a bed or a couch, the body of the person presses against the protuberances and the protuberances thereby stimulate the circulatory system making muscles or joints supple so as to relieve pain and tension. However, such a device as disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,381,558 involves each massage pad comprising only a single protuberance. Such an arrangement could be quite uncomfortable for a wearer because the weight of the wearer would be borne at relatively few localized spots. Such a device does not utilize the proven methods of massage and stretching as does U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,102 to Summers, as discussed above.